1. Orientation

Prevention and recognition of, and compensation for, health risks among firefighters are issues of fairness and occupational justice, for which firefighters have advocated, as well as concrete problems in occupational health and preparedness. This book brings together material on the health risks of firefighting, connects the risks with hazards and an appropriate context, and describes the legal structure for compensating risks that result in injury. This chapter begins with specific guidance on how to use this book, not only to find a fact or evidence but to find a framework for understanding what the facts mean and how they can be applied. The principal categories of firefighters are described, among which professional municipal firefighters are the main topic of this book. A brief overview of issues in health of firefighters emphasizes the close relationship among different risks and serves as an orientation to what will follow in the book. The chapter concludes with a description of research on firefighters’ health and why the body of literature is not always straightforward to interpret.